


Pitter-patter

by MiyaginoAsakura



Category: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: Gen, a miraculous ladybug au of sorts, just the umbrella scene really, no actual super hero-ing tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 04:50:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7345618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiyaginoAsakura/pseuds/MiyaginoAsakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My fingers reach forward tentatively to take the umbrella. They brush with his awkwardly, then take the handle. I rest the umbrella on my right shoulder. Maybe Achilles isn’t so bad after all, I think. Maybe he really did mean well. And he said he needed a new friend, a true friend to be precise.</p>
<p>…Maybe I could be that friend.</p>
<p>--A Patrochilles Version of the Miraculous Ladybug "Umbrella Scene"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pitter-patter

It was raining.

Fuck.

I step out of the school building and stand under the sun roof, frowning at the sight of the water pouring from the clouds above. The sky is dark gray, a stark contrast to the bright blue that it was earlier. The water stains the asphalt below. Cars drive by, splashing more of it onto the sidewalk. The buildings are hazy in the distance, much like everything else I could see through the water on my glasses’ frames. I could see the misty lights from the windows, street lamps or car headlights at least. Light shines out more when surrounded by darkness. Some people walked by with umbrellas of different colors and sizes.

Of all days for me to _not_ bring an umbrella, it just _had_ to be today. This morning the weatherman reported a 15% likelihood of it raining today, and like the presumptive idiot that I was, I decided that an 85% chance of rainbows and sunshine is solid ground to not bring the extra weight of an umbrella in my school bag.

Besides, I had other things to be concerned about. The day before, my friend Briseis had an unfortunate run-in with Deidameia, a spoiled girl that I’ve had the crappy fate of being stuck with for the last four years and now this one. Briseis had pissed her off by taking her seat, and I went to Briseis’ defense since she was a new kid and “first-come, first-served” applies when it’s the first day of school. That brief event made me gain a new friend, but made an enemy of the wrong person. Deidameia’s father was a business with influential allies, and would probably use his connections against _anyone_ who pisses off his only daughter.

I found out today that the reason Deidameia had wanted the seat was because her best friend was transferring to our school. The seat Briseis took was the best seat, close enough to the front to get a clear view of the blackboard, but not close enough for the teacher to notice anything suspicious. I’d taken the second best, becoming Briseis’ seatmate after being assigned to be her guide. Deidameia wanted to give him her seat, apparently, and she’d also wanted my seat. It was weird to see her genuinely upset, and I almost felt bad for taking the seats. But after my own encounter with the best friend in question earlier, I was glad that neither of them would be getting our seats. Even if they will be my classmates for this year. Thus leading to what could be a pretty terrible schoolyear.

I hold out my hand to let the rain fall on my palm. The water is cold, and the wind that brings the rain is colder. I shiver and curse at my ill luck. My house is only a five-minute walk away from the school, but there is absolutely NO WAY in hell I will let my ass freeze to death in that short amount of time. I decide to wait for the rain to subside. The kind of rain before me is like burning grass in summer. It blazes once lit, but burns out too quickly. (Weird, I’m comparing water to fire.)

I text Briseis, who got to leave earlier than I did. I had to stay and clean the classroom with Automedon. He wasn’t much help though, leaving me half-way. _Stuck in school bc rain. Need someone to save me from boredom._ I hit send.

No reply after five minutes. I sigh. She’s probably busy. I guess it’s hard for her, still adjusting to her new surroundings. Her words were highly accented, I’d noted when I first talked to her, and she said it was because she’d just moved in from some place in Asia. So on top of the school adjustment, there was the even more burdensome adjustment of a huge cultural switch. I felt bad for her, but she at least seemed to be doing okay.

I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to look at its source – hoping for someone to kill time with – and frown almost immediately at what I see.

Strands of golden sun woven into his hair. Green eyes like rays of warmth filtering through leaves. A summer child with no right to be seen in this damp, cold, and stormy hour. _Achilles Pelides._

“Hi! Uh, Pat, right?” He grins. It makes anger and resentment burn in me. I do not turn to look at him. Earlier today he and Deidameia had tried to bully Briseis again by sticking _chewed_ gum to her chair. Achilles tried to explain that he was trying to remove the gum, but by the way Deidameia and her peers were laughing it was obvious that it wasn’t true. I told him in the gentlest way I could to go fuck off, and Briseis and I spent what was left before class trying to scrape the gum off.

A quick google search during lunch told me who Achilles was. Apparently, he was the son of Peleus Aeacides, the mayor. His mother, Thetis, was also a woman of status. Being as influential as her husband, their family had very close ties with Deidameia’s. (Thus, explaining how he became Deidameia’s best friend.) Achilles was a child prodigy of sorts, excelling at music and sports among other things that are an odd combo. There was some information about some contests he’d won and other things that probably caused the boost of his ego. It didn’t surprise me, then that he would be in cahoots with Deidameia. I told Briseis that they were a match made in hell. She laughed.

“Pat?” _What are you still doing here?_ I think, still not turning to look at him. “Uh, well, about earlier, the chewing gum… I’m sorry.”

I nearly scoff at his apology, but instead I turn to look at him, the scorn dissipating. His eyes were lowered, cheeks reddened by the cold air and his embarrassment. I realize that he’s being genuine, but I still feel wary. I don’t reply.

“I didn’t tell you that it was Deidameia who put it on Briseis’ seat because… well, she has her flaws, but she’s the only friend I have.” He opens the black umbrella in his hands and rests it on his left shoulder. “I tried to stop her. I really _did_ mean to take the chewing gum off her seat, I swear.”

“Deidameia’s your only friend?” I ask in disbelief. I imagined that Achilles had many of them, considering who he was. I couldn’t wrap my head around that fact. “Gods, I think it’s about time you made new friends.”

He smiles. “I agree with you, a hundred percent!” He then looks to the street in front of us, features suddenly falling. “I’ve never been to school before. I’ve never had _true_ friends either. All of this…” His eyes flicker to the school building. “It’s all kinda new to me.”

Achilles looks like he wants to say more, but he doesn’t. I don’t really know how to respond. I want to say, “It doesn’t change the fact that she still bullied Briseis.” But I think it’s a false statement, since he just admitted to doing so. There’s something in the way he apologizes, in the way he keeps his eyes to the ground. The rain pitter-patters in the silence between us. _Drip, drip, drop. Drip, drip, drop._

“Do you live nearby?” he asks me.

I nod. “That way. It’s a five-minute walk. I’m just waiting it out here since I don’t have an umbrella.”

A gray car stops in front of us. The window rolls down and the driver calls for Achilles, to which the boy nods, but makes no move to leave. Instead he turns to me, holds the umbrella out to me. “You can borrow this for now. Just give it back to me tomorrow.”

“It’s fine, it won’t be necessary! I don’t really mind waiting,” I say. I never like being indebted to anybody, even if it means I’ll have to starve or something.

He shakes his head. “I insist. To make up for what happened a while ago.”

I’m about to refuse again when something stops me, then and there. There’s a slight intensity in the way he looks at me, stopping all objections. Green flecked with gold, warm despite the cold. He smiles, but it’s unlike the first smile he gives me. It’s gentler, softer, and a feeling is stirring in me, one that I can’t put a name on.

A thunderclap. I blink.

My fingers reach forward tentatively to take the umbrella. They brush with his awkwardly, then take the handle. I rest the umbrella on my right shoulder. Maybe Achilles isn’t so bad after all, I think. Maybe he really did mean well. And he said he needed a new friend, a _true_ friend to be precise.

…Maybe I could be that friend.

I realize that I’ve been staring for too long, and my mind is yelling _SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT LOOK AWAY **lOoK aWaY**_ but I find that I can’t, and in the smartest move I’ve ever done in my entire life, I close the umbrella. With me inside it. _Really smart move, dumbass._

At that point I realize that Achilles is actually _partly_ an ass because instead of helping me get the umbrella, the fucking bastard _laughs._ I push the umbrella off me and glare, but I find that I can’t be mad at him. He’s laughing with a child-like innocence, and his voice is smooth like silk. It’s like the tinkling of bells, the pitter-patter of the rain around us. Soon I’m laughing too, though my voice doesn’t really mix well with his. I think my laugh sounds like a dying hyena.

The laughter dies eventually, with Achilles exhaling. He looks at me and smiles again. “See you tomorrow, Pat,” he says.

He’s about to leave, but I stop him, shaking my head. “It’s Patroclus, actually. But you can call me Pat if you think it’s easier.” The words are out before I can stop them. I usually don’t give people my real name since a) it’s a weird name, b) it’s an ironic name since it means “honor of the father” and my father sees me as anything but, and c) people end up pronouncing it wrong, so I just tell them that my name is Pat. Why is Achilles any different?

He regards me a moment. “Patroclus,” he repeats to himself. He draws out each syllable and pronounces them correctly, much unlike the others who wish to be rid of me so quickly. “It’s a nice name. Well, see you tomorrow, Patroclus.”

He’s walking down the steps before I can reply, so I yell after him, “See you morrow-to – agh! I mean, see you tomoworr – ahh! I mean, SEE YOU TOMORROW!” He turns to wave at me, then gets into his car. The car drive away right after the door shuts. I sigh exasperatedly, then promptly slap my forehead. Why did I stammer? I’m not one usually to tumble over my words when I speak. It’s weird. Maybe Achilles has that effect on everyone.

The umbrella is warm where he last held it. I smile. This school year won’t be so bad after all. I walk down the stairs and the rain lightens a little, the water pitter-pattering on the pavement.

Drip, drip, drop.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> It's the rainy season here in the Ph, and procrastination does wonders.
> 
> I say "procrastination" because I wrote this instead of working on my college apps. And I probably should update Awit ng Kalayaan soon, but I'll need my copy of TSoA, which I lent to my friend. So yeah.
> 
> Companion fan art, since I also draw in my free time: http://miyaginoasakura.deviantart.com/art/Pitter-patter-618607267
> 
> Comments, kudos, etc. are always appreciated! :>


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